What on earth is colostrum ‘Harvesting’ ??

[Mumtothreegirlies]

I had my last baby 11 years ago. Breastfed all my babies but never was colostrum harvesting ever mentioned. Now on MN it appears all the pregnant ladies are doing it and bringing vials of it into hospital. What on earth is it for exactly?
why not just breastfeed your baby so they get it that way? Surely there aren’t millions of babies refusing to latch forever or how did humans survive for thousands of years? I’m really scratching my head here so please help me out 🤔

My mum donated milk to the hospital 40yrs ago- so its not new.

Babies in NICU, mother too unwell and in ICU herself, mums milk hasn't come down, mum had implants/injury/issues meaning no or damaged milk ducts, a twin or triple and mum doesn't have enough milk for all. I assume the reasons are endless.

If your baby doesn't latch, it means the earliest first feed can still be mums milk, for example if they have a tongue tie, or need to be syringe fed as they are too sleepy/weak.

She donated milk though or was it just the colostrum she donated?

Baby can get in a cycle of being too sleepy to latch/keeps getting sleepier because blood sugar is dropping in the first few days. Being able to syringe feed colostrum means you can prevent or reverse this without giving formula.

It's not at all obligatory but it can be handy. Exactly the above happened with my firstborn and I hand expressed and syringe fed him colostrum until he was back on track. I stored some colostrum for my second in advance - as it happened he fed like a champ from the beginning, so it wasn't needed, but I didn't mind doing it.

But why not just get it in a pipette after you’ve given birth when it’s literally Spraying out rather then spend weeks extracting it beforehand?

My DS struggled to latch in the first 24h and the hungrier and sleepier he got the worse it got - a vicious cycle. I was eventually able to express some colostrum which he took by syringe, and that perked him up enough to give feeding from the breast another go. All worked out ok but it would have made the first day a hell of a lot easier on me if I'd had a few ml of colostrum already stashed!

My 3rd born was a sleepy due to meconium ingestion so I just squeezed it into her mouth until she was more awake and latched better.

The spraying out doesn’t happen for everyone straight away, it can take a few days for supply to come in properly and like PP have said if baby is sleepy or struggling to latch it’s useful to have it ready if you can’t express much yourself immediately (or if for some reason you and baby are separated straight after birth).

I collected 20 syringes and didn’t use any! So it’s not necessarily needed, but I do know a lot of people who have found it helpful :)

Okay. That's nice for you. So? Colostrum isn't "literally spraying out" for most people after birth either.

You don't have to do it. Nobody is making you. But if you feel inclined, why not have some ready to go when you have time and space in advance rather than having to do it when you are potentially sore, exhausted, and stressed?

It takes several days for your milk to come in post birth. Colostrum is rich in lots of good things for your baby.

I am having a C section so have been harvesting so that if anything goes wrong I've got 5-6 feeds for my baby of my milk.

It's not that difficult to get. The stuff is like gold dust really.

That's donor milk which is different.

Colostrum harvesting is done from 37 weeks, it's recommended if you have diabetes or you know your baby might go to nicu. You collect it in little syringes and freeze it and it can be given to your baby straight away if you've had a section or are separated from your baby.

My guess would be that breastfeeding is gently promoted by midwives at the moment and this helps exhausted new mums struggling with latch etc be able to give their baby some of their milk in the early stages instead of using formula.

(Obviously if they choose formula that's fine too, just trying to suggest why it wasn't mentioned so much to mothers a few years ago)

I've been breastfeeding for 9 months and my milk still doesn't spray out let alone in the first few hours after birth so lol at that comment.

It's also recommended to help induce labour once you are full term so you may as well make use of the milk you have been squeezing out.

Colostrum does not spray out.
lucky you that your breastfeeding went well. For many many women, it doesn’t always get off to a good start and this can be very beneficial. Not sure what to make of your thread

I do know what you mean op, people are over complicating life. Until a couple of generations ago breastfeeding was the norm for all, alternatives were not good so used only in emergency, rich folk paid poor wet nurses. Rates are pretty low now because there's a choice

I was in intensive care so they did pipette feed a teaspoon or 2 of formula.

But then I breastfed fine. I am so pro breastfeeding but if it all goes wrong and they feed a tablespoon of formula I don't think it's the end of the world. And easier than "harvesting". I'd fear its yet another expectation on mothers.

Colostrum doesn’t spurt out, it’s thicker than breast milk. It comes out in beads.

It was recommended to me because I had gestational diabetes and was going to be induced. Babies in this situation can have low blood sugar and therefore colostrum is great because it stabilises their blood sugar. It’s also recommended if there are complications which mean you might not be able to breastfeed straight away - c-section, induction, NICU.

It’s also recommended to induce labour naturally. It’s also recommended so mums can get used to hand expressing before they have their baby.

For me, I harvested colostrum. I only got one syringe and forgot to take it to the hospital. I threw up throughout labour and didn’t produce any colostrum until 17 hours after labour by which point my baby had to be given formula as I forgot the syringe. If I’d taken the syringe she’d have been ok until my milk came in. However, because I’d hand expressed before labour I knew what to do on the delivery ward when we were trying to get baby to latch. I struggled to get baby to latch when my colostrum came in and when my milk came in. She was losing weight and so we gave the syringe of high calorie colostrum that I’d harvested before to her to bring her weight up. She managed to get some colostrum, the very best bit of breast milk, by my harvesting colostrum despite our problems with latching after.

I’m glad that your third baby you were just able to squirt the milk in when they were sleepy but first time mums or mums who haven’t breastfed before or mums who don’t have the supply - it’s not that easy. You don’t have to do it. There are a number of reasons it’s beneficial. Even if you don’t use it for feeding purposes it can be used to get rid of little newborn ailments.

No, there have always been struggles with breastfeeding.

The babies would often just die from 'failure to thrive' or be fed something like bread soaked in milk, or fed by another woman out of kindness or for pay.

I agree breastfeeding should be supported but the good old days were the bad old days

But it takes a few days for the milk to come in. The colostrum is there ready and waiting. It’s clear and Not like the milk that comes out a few days later.

If you have a Caesarian birth, it can delay milk production. I can see how it might worthwhile.

I gave birth 11 years ago too and bf was unmitigated disaster for me and DD1.

I’ll look into the history.
my 3rd daughter was initially breastfed then had to switch to soy because it turned out she had a metabolic disorder called galactosaemia, Milk is toxic to her even human milk. She still latched on to begin with though and had plenty of colustrum. I think the fact I breastfed and my proper milk didn’t come for 4 days kept her alive because most babies with her condition die at around a week, she went 3 weeks of breastfeeding, very ill but still here 11 years later.

Yes delay ‘milk’ production but not colostrum?

I don’t remember it coming out in beads, I had to wear pads just like when my milk came in. It was the same for my first born. That let down reflex and then suddenly it comes out just like it does with milk. I had to wear pads in the last few weeks of my pregnancy to save my bras.

My DS3 had no idea how to latch as a newborn and tbh minimal interest in trying, he just wanted to sleep after a very long labour. Having syringes of colostrum was really helpful for us.

Did you have pain meds in labour? I heard they can make the baby very sleepy. The gas and air definitely effected mine.